


Counting Kisses

by Casiosiris294



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Even more tooth-rotting fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, excuse me waiter someone got angst in my fluff, guest-starring A Bit of Angst, takes place somewhere in season 2, why can't these boys ever let anything be easy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 15:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19890007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casiosiris294/pseuds/Casiosiris294
Summary: Even after being in one for the better part of a year, Keith didn’t know much about relationships.He still struggled to recognize his own feelings and often had to be coaxed into putting them into words. He still worried that he was somehow cuddling wrong and questioned what he’d ever done to deserve Lance’s love and loyalty and continued presence in his life.That said, he definitely knew enough by now to know that his boyfriend was acting strangely. Which, since his boyfriend was the one and only Lance McClain, wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in itself.





	Counting Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there, everyone! 8D; Ahhh it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’m _so_ sorry for the long wait-times between updates recently. I’ve had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life these last few months, and on top of it all I’m finally working full-time again, so I’ve had a lot less time to work on my fics. 
> 
> Not to mention that with everything going on, when I _have_ had time to write, I’ve been so stressed about so many other things that all I’ve wanted to do is write comfort fluff. xD AND SO here we are. This fic is incredibly fluffy and self-indulgent, but I hope you all enjoy it! Consider it an apology for making you wait so long for the next chapter of TWTHP, haha. I’ve had this little plot idea for a long time, so I’m really excited to share it with all of you!

Keith woke to the chime of an alarm. 

Once upon a time he would’ve jerked awake with knife in hand at any intrusion on his slumber, but now Keith crawled into reluctant consciousness when the sound continued on an endless loop, growing gradually louder each time. He cracked open an eye and spotted a column of light from Lance’s tablet breaking the shadows that blanketed the room. 

He still wasn’t used to waking up to an alarm; he’d always had trouble sleeping, enough that he’d never had to use them since he knew he would be awake when he needed to be. If someone had told his younger self that sleeping next to another person was all the change he’d needed to actually sleep through the night, he would never have believed it. 

Dating Lance had come with quite a few surprising benefits for Keith personally, a halfway decent sleep schedule being near the top of the list. With the revelation of their mutual feelings had come a long overdue switch flipped in their relationship. Once their every interaction wasn’t driven by emotional constipation, it was ridiculous how good Lance was for him. 

Lance was a perfect balm for his wild temper. Even though he could be just as reckless, somehow Lance had become the impulse control he’d always lacked. Keith thought twice before charging into danger not only because he knew how much Lance would hurt if something happened to him, but because Lance helped him learn his own worth. Lance pried open the walls around his heart with sweet, silly words and dazzling smiles, and his love was like ocean waves flowing into the cracks to soothe and heal. 

He’d even gotten closer to the other Paladins because of it. It was largely due to Lance helping him open up that Keith finally knew what it was like to have a family. 

In all his life, Keith couldn’t remember a time when he’d smiled so wide or laughed so much. They were all side-effects of a happy, loving relationship, made all the more potent by how severely unfamiliar Keith had been with the concept before.

One of those wide smiles appeared as Lance shifted in his arms, trying to curl impossibly closer while refusing to be conscious enough to effectively do so. Moments like this had once seemed so out of reach and yet here he was, waking up with his boyfriend’s bed-mussed hair tickling the underside of his chin after sleeping the night through.

Lance stirred again as the alarm kicked up a notch in volume. A high-pitched, wordless whine vibrated against Keith’s collarbone and he knew that in Sleepy Lance-Speak it translated to “Keeeith turn off the alaaarm.” 

“We should get up.” His voice was gravelly from a night of disuse, and he spoke right into Lance’s ear, knowing that he liked it. “Don’t you want breakfast?” 

Lance merely tangled their legs together. “Hugs now, breakfast later.” 

Keith understood the words more from the brush of Lance’s lips against his skin than actually hearing them. He shook his head, but reached out the arm draped overtop his boyfriend to smack the tablet, jostling Lance enough to make him grumble. He hit his mark on the first try and the now loud, grating buzzing ceased, and he settled back into Lance’s koala grip.

In the hush that followed all that could be heard was their combined breaths. In a sense this particular side-effect of their relationship was both a good and a bad thing: Lance’s aversion to getting up before noon (or whatever passed for noon out in space) had made him similarly lazy. Despite knowing from experience that Shiro would physically drag them out of bed if they didn’t get up on their own, all it took was Lance’s fingers curling into his nightshirt and a soft nuzzle at his neck for Keith to give into the urge to burrow further into the blankets. He tightened his hold around Lance’s waist and drew him closer. 

Their room was still dark aside from the glow of the hallway lights from the crack under the door. Combined with Lance’s rhythmic breaths fanning against his throat and the warmth filling the nonexistent space between them, Keith had to focus hard on a crease in the opposite wall to keep from dozing off. 

“Had a weird dream,” Lance mumbled after a while. Every few words were interspersed with a pause, as if his partially awake state slowed the journey between brain and mouth. “We were back on Earth...but while we were gone...humans had...started living upside-down.”

Keith hid a smile in Lance’s hair. “Upside-down?”

“Mmm. But, like...standing.” Lance’s hands slid up to his shoulders so he could play with Keith’s hair while he talked. “Everyone wore these...things on their heads. Like...wearing a cake-stand for a hat. But they, like, hovered, so...they carried people around.” 

“That’s what happens when you spend a mission debriefing sitting upside-down staring at the holomap.” 

He felt Lance’s grin as it formed against his collar. His shoulders started to shake, little hiccups of laughter muffled by Keith’s shirt. “Your hair made your cake-stand look like it was wearing a skirt.”

Unbidden Keith’s brain conjured up the mental image, and he snorted as Lance devolved into giggles, pressing his face into the side of Keith’s neck. 

“You dusted the floor, too, like some kind of human Roomba,” he snickered, and Keith pulled away enough to give him a look. He’d amused himself into being more awake, voice strong and flashing a full grin. “Don’t look at me like that, babe. My subconscious made you a fashion pioneer.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Good to know your subconscious is as ridiculous as you are.”

“There’s my grumpy Keith.” Lance flicked a lock of hair away from his face. “You’re not allowed to call me ridiculous anymore when it’s one of the things you fell for about me.”

“That doesn’t make it any less true.”

“You know, I remember a time when you would’ve argued everything I said just to be a pain in the ass. Oh wait, my bad, you still do that now.”

Their bickering hadn’t changed much since they’d gotten together. It had only ever been a front to hide flirtatious remarks and unresolved attraction: for Lance, the frustrated words and goading had been poorly executed olive branches; for Keith they’d been a defensive instinct, covering up his feelings in the face of Lance’s assumed aversion to him. 

Now they still teased and jibed, but with any false pretenses stripped away, their banter was reduced down to the flirtatious teasing it had always been underneath. Lance couldn’t help but poke fun and Keith couldn’t help but match him; they kept up with each other perfectly, like a dance to which only the two of them knew the steps. Even the intentions behind their bickering hadn’t _really_ changed: they both knew that Lance was only doing it to get a rise out of him, and they both knew that Keith couldn’t help but oblige. 

The only difference now was the _reaction_ that was drawn out.

Before Lance could react, Keith rolled on top of him, pinning his hands with a hold on his wrists and pressing him into the mattress. Lance raised his chin defiantly, though he made no effort to free himself. His loose nightshirt was rumpled and sagged low on his chest, putting the column of his throat on full display. His lips curled into a tantalizing smirk. 

“Find something you want to have for breakfast? Good choice, I’m way more satisfying than food goo.”

Keith hummed, hovering far enough away so their mouths were just shy of meeting. Rather than close that gap, instead he passed by Lance’s lips to slide his nose along his jaw. He pressed a lingering kiss behind Lance’s ear, feeling him shiver as he trailed a line of open-mouthed kisses down his neck, sensual and slow as the quiet Castleship morning. 

A trembling gasp tickled his ear as he latched onto Lance’s collarbone, sucking and teasing with his teeth. He took his time, leaving a trail of red marks as he retraced his path back up. Lance arched into him, making needy _ah_ sounds that chased Keith’s lingering drowsiness away with fire. By the time he hovered above Lance’s lips again, blue irises were dark as the depths of the ocean beneath fluttering lids.

“Sweeter, too,” Keith murmured, purposely pitching his voice low and eating up the flash in Lance’s eyes. He drew out the moment for as long as he could resist, slowly closing the minuscule gap between them, his own eyes slipping closed—

Lance jerked under him and Keith’s lips met empty air. Confusion drove his eyes open again only to see Lance reared back into his pillow. Even in the dark his bright blush was obvious, and his head angled away while his gaze darted about the room. 

“Ah—h-hey, uh, I think I hear Shiro calling for us!” Lance tugged against Keith’s hold on his wrists and Keith immediately let go, too dumbfounded to do anything but stare as he slipped free. “We’d better get up before, um, you know, yeah—”

He shimmied sideways along the mattress, carrying the blankets tangled around his legs with him. Once he was out from under Keith’s arms he leapt out of bed, stumbling and hopping around until he kicked the blanket off and got his legs free.

“Actually, you know what? I’m super starving!” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder and backed towards the door. “Lets grab some breakfast, yeah?”

The door slid open before Keith could summon so much as a coherent thought, much less protest. Lance shouted a hasty “meet you there, babe!” and dashed away as the door shut behind him. 

A long moment passed where Keith sat atop the bed, blinking at their bedroom door in complete bafflement. _What the hell had just happened?_ It was far from unusual for them to fool around in the morning, and Lance had definitely seemed in the mood. Hell, he was _always_ in the mood. 

Lance was an extremely affectionate person. There’d only been a handful of times that he’d shied away from physical affection, and it had only ever been after something bad had happened with Voltron or the team. The amount of times per day that they kissed or otherwise touched in some way had taken some getting used to for Keith, but it had always come naturally to Lance. He craved that kind of attention, and now Keith craved giving it to him. 

So what the hell was _that?_

Keith mentally replayed the last ten minutes while fighting back a premature wave of worry. Nothing had happened last night to cause one of Lance’s morning moods. Had _he_ done something wrong? Nothing stood out in his mind, and Lance hadn’t seemed mad, but he couldn’t help but question as he heaved himself out of bed. 

It was probably nothing, Keith told himself, and yet his footsteps trudged more than usual on his journey to the kitchen.

~~~

Even after being in one for the better part of a year, Keith didn’t know much about relationships. 

He still struggled to recognize his own feelings and often had to be coaxed into putting them into words. He still worried that he was somehow cuddling wrong and questioned what he’d ever done to deserve Lance’s love and loyalty and continued presence in his life. 

That said, he definitely knew enough by now to know that his boyfriend was acting strangely. Which, since his boyfriend was the one and only Lance McClain, wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in itself. 

Keith had gotten used to Lance’s particular brand of day-to-day strange, all of the quirks and mannerisms that added up to the most endearingly ridiculous boy in the universe. Lance was definitely an acquired taste, an off-brand like the shitty (read: _amazing_ , he missed the stupidest shit about Earth) knock-off Lucky Charms his dad bought when he was a kid that were not quite crunchy enough and not quite sweet enough and actually kind of gross but simultaneously the best thing he’d ever eaten. It was old news that Keith was a glutton for punishment that way. 

But this was an _off_ off-brand of strange, even for Lance. The knock-off of the knock-off. 

If the odd moment in bed that morning had been the end of it he might’ve attributed it to a usual amount of Lance’s weirdness and brushed it off as nothing to worry about, but Lance’s peculiar behavior didn’t stop there. 

Everything seemed fine when Keith took his seat beside Lance at the table and immediately felt a hand twine with his. It was common for them to go their separate ways for a time after breakfast, Keith always heading to the training deck while Lance did almost anything else, but when Lance announced that he was going to help Coran with some cleaning around the Castle he didn’t even try to steal a kiss before he left, simply offering a wave and cheery goodbye as he headed out. 

Voltron received a distress call a few hours later. No matter how urgent the mission, the two of them always found a single moment between donning their armor and rushing to the Lion hangar, exchanging a kiss and safe wishes to help deal with the ever-present fear of the worst. 

This time, when they found each other on their way to the armory, Lance pulled him into a tight, lingering embrace. He dropped a few kisses into Keith’s hair, offering a smile and a “stay safe out there, babe,” before rushing off. Keith focused hard on the battle to distract himself from the tangle of emotions writhing in his chest. 

They fell into bed that night, achey and exhausted from a long and grueling battle, but both in one, unharmed piece. They held each other close, legs tangled and fingers clinging, but when Keith tried to express his relief with a kiss, Lance buried his head in Keith’s neck and clutched him closer until they’d drifted off. 

Come morning Keith once again woke with Lance in his arms and a feeling of warm contentment settled into his bones, and dared to hope it had passed. He told himself it was a fluke and woke his boyfriend with a kiss to his brow, chuckling at how it crinkled and the whining that inevitably came after. Lance nuzzling into him and refusing to get up was so normal that Keith sighed in relief and tilted Lance’s head up with a gentle, guiding hand. 

But then Lance jolted away and scrambled out of their room just like the day before, and Keith’s hopes shattered. He smacked a pillow over his head and groaned out his frustration.

So much for it being his imagination. He couldn’t even begin to guess what the hell was going on in his boyfriend’s ridiculous brain that could lead to _this_. 

As much as he wanted to find out, Voltron had been contacted by a nearby planet interested in joining the Coalition, and they were scheduled to be planet-side playing politics all day. With Lance bolting and cutting their morning short, they wouldn’t have any chance to talk alone. 

One more day, he told himself. He had to wait one more day before he could say something to Lance, but it was fine. 

It was fine. _They_ were fine. Hell, knowing him, Lance might not even realize he was doing it. Keith tossed the pillow to the other end of the bed and glared up at the ceiling, breathing deep in an attempt to make himself let go of the frustration and, more importantly, the anxiety brewing just underneath. 

It would blow over in another day, he told himself. It was fine. 

They were fine.

~~~

They were _not_ fine. 

Or, Keith wasn’t, at least. 

Twenty-four hours later and nothing had changed. Keith never would have pegged himself as such an affectionate person, but Lance hadn’t kissed him in two days and he was going crazy. Apparently another side-effect of their relationship was that he was now hopelessly addicted to the warmth and softness and taste of Lance’s lips. When Lance wasn’t with him he stood away from the others to brood, wracking his brain for any idea of what the fuck had gotten into his boyfriend. 

It seemed like every hour Lance’s sudden aversion to kissing him became more obvious. Every time he tried to catch Lance’s lips the brunette would dodge it somehow. He diverted the situation and tried to distract from it with random chatter or roping someone else into the conversation. He even went so far as to physically duck around him before bolting. 

The worst part, though, was that _nothing else was different_. 

At least if Lance were avoiding him completely he would know he’d done something wrong, but this spell of weirdness didn’t seem to affect anything other than kissing. There was no hesitation when they held hands beneath the banquet table while Allura negotiated the planet Diaelis’s addition to the Coalition. During the after-dinner festivities Lance not only dragged him onto the dance floor, but he was red-faced and laughing the entire time, his smile bright and beautiful as they tried to learn the traditional Diaeli dances and failed spectacularly. After enjoying the party a bit _too_ much they still stumbled back to the same room, too giggly and lightheaded to talk about anything more serious than Shiro’s fluster when the Diaeli prince had asked him to dance.

It wasn’t until Keith woke up the next morning that he remembered his mounting worry. Not that it mattered—the chill at his back told him that Lance’s side of the bed was empty even before he rolled over to find the note on his pillow. 

‘ _Dragged out on a stupidly early ingredient run with Hunk. Be back later_ ,’ it read, signed with a heart and a string of x’s and o’s. Keith glared at the happy little x marks with enough frustration to set the paper on fire. 

Two days of such drastically conflicting signals was all Keith could take. Enough was enough. 

Despite his determination to pin Lance down and make him talk whatever this was out (literally, if he had to), there wasn’t anything he could do besides wait for him to get back. He tried to distract himself with his friends, but Pidge was too focused on her latest project to be any level of distraction, and Shiro was too determined to get him to talk about what was bothering him the instant he noticed something amiss. Coran and Allura were both absent as well, likely settling any last minute matters before Voltron moved on the following day, leaving him with nothing to do but stew. 

Lance didn’t return with Hunk until dinnertime, but he immediately disappeared into the kitchen (without a kiss hello for his boyfriend, surprise surprise) and didn’t emerge until the meal was served. In a last ditch attempt to keep from losing it he was a generous enough boyfriend to give Lance _one_ more chance, trying for a kiss as the others all finished the last of their meals, but it proved to be an exercise in insanity when Lance avoided him by scurrying off to the kitchen to help Hunk with cleanup.

Keith was _so_ far beyond frustrated. When he finally caught Lance alone in the lounge after dinner he had to stop in the doorway and breathe deep to keep himself from storming in guns blazing. Lance was stretched out along the length of the couch and holding his tablet above his face, making him barely noticeable if not for the top of his head and the tip of his elbow until he shifted at the sound of someone entering, shimmying on his back so his face was visible past the couch’s arm. 

Lance lit up when he saw him in the doorway. “Hey, babe!” he chirped, waving his tablet over the back of the couch. “Plenty of prime couch real-estate over here if you wanna join me. Or lap real-estate, whatever you’re feeling.”

His casualness was the last straw. Lance was usually the exception to Keith’s complete lack of patience, but two days of kiss withdrawal on top of feeling like he was walking on eggshells around his own boyfriend had solidified his soft spot into dry concrete. It took every ounce of self-control for Keith not to explode. Lance didn’t deserve that no matter how mad he was. 

“Why won’t you kiss me?”

He hadn’t moved from the doorway, old habits forcing him to keep distance between them as if it would help soften the blow Lance’s explanation might deliver. The couch jostled as Lance bolted upright, his eyes comically wide. 

“Uhhhh whaaaat are you talking about? I, uh...don’t know what you mean?” he tried with a wince. Keith narrowed his eyes. 

“Really? So you haven’t been acting weird at all?”

“Noooo...?”

Keith crossed his arms. He stood there and watched Lance’s eyes flick back and forth, scrutinizing him and waiting for him to crack. Only when it became obvious he wasn’t going to say anything more did Keith walk fully into the room.

He came around the couch and sat on the cushion next to Lance. His boyfriend tried for a grin, but it was crooked in that way he had when he was putting on a happy face to cover up what was underneath. Combined with the subtle shifting in his arm that gave away how his fingers fiddled nervously behind his back, Keith wasn’t buying it for a second. 

“Well. Good.”

Lance blinked, clearly not expecting him to let the issue go so easily. “Ha, yeah—yeah you must’ve been imagining it! Totally nothing weird going on here at all! Actually, did Coran get to you with his gross experimental food goo? He tried to convince me it’s strawberry flavored and let me tell you, it is _not_. More like dirty socks and gasoline—don’t ask how I know what that tastes like, by the way, it was Marco’s fault and you don’t want to know more than that. Seriously, I took one bite and I think it messed with my head just as much as my stomach.”

He barely breathed between sentences, somehow unaware that his rambling was just another giveaway. Lance talked a lot as a general rule, but his pace turned break-neck when he was anxious. Keith sat on the edge of the couch cushion and faced him. “Glad it’s nothing serious. How about a kiss now, then?”

Lance’s spiel cut off. His lips pressed into a crinkled line and he looked at Keith sideways. “...Right now?”

“Yep.”

“Right this very second?” 

“Is that a problem?”

“No, no! It’s just, um...” his eyes darted around the room like he was searching for an escape, and Keith bristled. He scooted closer until their knees touched and angled inward. Lance, on the other hand, tilted back slightly, and Keith had to swallow down an ache at the base of his throat before it escaped as scathing words he’d regret. 

Instead it drove him forward until Lance was backed against the arm of the couch. Keith still didn’t stop, climbing onto Lance’s lap once he had nowhere else to go. Lance’s hands fluttered before landing on his upper arms, thumbs smoothing tiny circles into the skin just below the sleeves of his black t-shirt. Keith heard him swallow and felt his shallow breathing stutter as he leaned in, only pausing when their lips were an inch apart. 

“I’m waiting,” he whispered.

Lance’s next exhale broke across Keith’s cheeks in a whine. He licked his lips with his gaze fixated on Keith’s own. Keith was _sure_ he had him, but then his head tipped back on a groan.

“O-okay, look, it’s not that I don’t _want_ to, I just—”

“I knew it!” Keith drew back and jabbed an accusing finger into Lance’s chest. “What the hell, Lance? What is going on with you?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing!”

“Really? The last time you turned down a kiss was when you caught space pneumonia from that stupid monsoon planet and were convinced you were dying for a week! And the time before that you were worried sick about Pidge when she infiltrated that Galra cargo ship on her own!”

Concern lodged in his throat and cut off his outburst. He reached out a hand and cupped Lance’s cheek, a lifetime of struggle and anticipating the worst driving him to reassure himself that his love was there, still whole and safe.

“You only don’t want affection when something’s wrong. Are you okay?” 

Everything about Lance softened, the clouds in his eyes parting into adoration as the tension in his posture disappeared. “Hey, hey, no need to worry, _cariño_. I’m okay.” He used his grip on Keith’s arms to draw him closer again, this time meeting him halfway so their foreheads touched. “I’m sorry for being weird the last few days. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“Then tell me what’s going on,” Keith implored. “We’ve talked about this. If something’s wrong, none of us expect you to just put on a happy face. You can talk to me.” 

Lance settled a hand atop the one that Keith had on his cheek. “I know. I promise it’s not like that, okay? If something was wrong, I’d tell you.” He gave Keith a meaningful look—or it would have been, if Keith had any idea what he meant by it. Regardless, the sincerity in his expression made Keith believe he was telling the truth. 

“Then did _I_ do something wrong?” He looked into Lance’s eyes, hoping that the flash of insecurity he felt wasn’t visible in his own. “If you’re mad or something then fine, but you have to tell me before I can fix it, not just avoid kissing me like I’m going to give you the goddamn plague.”

All at once Lance looked even more distressed than when he’d first been caught. “ _Shit_ —no! No, I’m the one being an idiot, you didn’t do anything wrong!” 

Lance pulled him even closer and kissed both of his cheeks, and Keith couldn’t help a smile. As much as they’d butted heads before they’d started dating, he’d always had a hard time being genuinely mad at Lance. He was so bright and warm, the literal light of Keith’s life. Even now, when the kisses Lance peppered along his jaw and beneath his eyes weren’t quite the reassurance he wanted, each press of soft lips on his skin diffused the frustration that had built up over the past two days. 

“Okay, okay,” Keith relented after Lance nearly smooched him in the eye. “If it isn’t that either, then what?”

Lance huffed out a breath that bordered on a whine. “Keith, babe, darling, love of my life—you’re killing me. It’s a surprise, okay? And trust me, I know how weird that sounds, but I promise that’s all it is.”

“A surprise?” That was so far from what Keith had been expecting that the word barely processed. He raised a brow. “What do you mean a _surprise?_ What kind of surprise involves you not kissing me for two days?”

“The best kind, obviously. As if I would stop kissing you for just anything.” Lance had the audacity to wink at him. “Don’t worry, everything will make sense in...what time is it?”

He detangled enough to tap the screen of his tablet where he’d tossed it on the table. There wasn’t a day and night cycle out in space, but for the sake of all their sanity, they’d implemented their own aboard the Castleship. The tablet’s lockscreen flashed 9:08 p.m. overtop a photograph of the two of them from their first date, leaning into each other and grinning like a couple of fools. 

“Okay, so in approximately three hours, everything will make sense,” Lance finished as he settled back. He sagged fully into the couch and tugged at Keith’s arm until he went down with him.

Now that he’d let out his frustrations, Keith tucked himself into Lance’s side easily. For the first time in two days their closeness soothed him like it should, instead of making him worry or doubt. “Why midnight?”

“Ah-ah.” Lance poked the tip of his nose and chuckled when it crinkled. “If I told you that it’d ruin the surprise, now wouldn’t it?”

“Not necessarily.”

“Well I’m still not gonna tell you.” 

Keith rolled his eyes but didn’t protest further. For now he was placated—incredibly curious as to what Lance was up to, but reassured enough to be at ease and enjoy the moment. 

“If you made me worry for days over something silly, I’m going to do the same thing to you and see how you like it.”

Lance winced, his smile turning sheepish. “I was trying to be subtle.”

Keith gave him his best deadpan. “Lance, you’re as subtle as Coran’s mustache.”

“I think you mean I’m as glorious as Coran’s mustache,” Lance teased with a nudge at his side. “You gotta give the man credit, Keith. Not many people could pull off that look. Coran is hands-down one of the most fabulous people I’ve ever known. Aside from myself, obviously.” 

“What about those pirate outfits he made us wear at the space mall?”

“...Okay, that was the one exception.”

“And that outfit Allura showed us on the security cameras from when he tried to get Red to let him pilot her?”

“ _Keith_. Is this your payback? Is it just your mission now to be as difficult as possible for the next three hours to punish me?”

“It is now.” Keith gave a mischievous grin, one that he’d definitely learned from his pain-in-the-ass boyfriend. “Thanks for the idea.” 

Lance groaned to a chorus of Keith’s laughter, a sound that quickly became their recurring soundtrack while they spent the evening pressed against each other on the couch, talking about anything and everything. As the designated hour drew nearer Keith tried to hide how anxious he was to see Lance’s “surprise,” a fact that Lance _definitely_ noticed. 

“Only five minutes now,” Lance teased after checking his tablet again. His grin was lopsided with mischief. “Think you can make it that long?”

“Can’t you just get on with it?” His excitement was already out of the bag; no need to deny it now. “What difference is five minutes going to make?”

Lance laughed. “All the difference, actually. Patience is a virtue, Keith. Hasn’t Shiro taught you anything?”

Keith frowned, and for some reason it only made Lance smile wider. “Don’t start with that. I already have Shiro to ‘Shiro’ me. You’re one of the most impatient people I’ve ever met, especially when you’re excited about something.”

“True. Good thing this isn’t about _me_ being patient, since I know what’s coming.” 

Keith glared half-heartedly. “You really had to rub it in, didn’t you.” 

Lance snickered and pressed an overly-wet kiss to his cheek, ignoring Keith’s squawk. “You know it, babe! Just like old times, eh?” 

“You mean you being difficult and ridiculous? That’s _all_ times.” Keith’s grin was all teeth as Lance sputtered and whacked him lightly on the arm.

“Wow, rude! I was _going_ to get us on our way a few minutes early since we have to walk there, but now I’m making you wait until midnight to leave!” 

“Oh, come on!”

“Nope! No sympathy! You have no one to blame but yourself!” 

“‘Nope’ yourself. We’re going right now.”

Before Lance could protest, Keith scooped him up off the couch in a bridal carry and marched out of the room. Lance clung to his shoulders with a startled yelp that devolved into a laugh. 

“You don’t even know where we’re going!” 

“Then unless you want a scenic tour of the Castle, you’d better direct me.”

After a bit more bickering Lance obliged, giggling and posing dramatically in Keith’s arms the whole way. Keith complained, but his smile never faded as Lance directed him through hallways and even down a few elevators until they stopped outside an unmarked room. Keith didn’t recognize this section of the Castle; they were floors below their living spaces and the Castle’s main decks. He’d probably been down here at least once—he had explored the whole Castle right after finding out it would be their home for the foreseeable future, but it was so vast he couldn’t possibly remember every part of it. 

“Alright, down you go,” Keith said, pointedly jostling the boy in his arms. 

“Aww, I was enjoying that.” Lance threw a dramatic arm over his forehead, wriggling enough that Keith struggled not to drop him. “Now I know what all those damsels in distress in kids stories felt like.” 

Keith snorted. “We’ve all saved each other’s asses so many times that we’re all permanently damsels in distress.”

“Fair point. You realize that also makes us each other’s knight in shining armor,” Lance said, a coy lift to his brow.

“Our jobs as Paladins are literally to save people, so yeah.” 

“You can be cavalier about it if you want, but everyone knows you’re the most shining-armored-savior out of all of us, Mister Always-Doing-Something-Cool.” A gleam sparked in his eyes that told Keith he wouldn’t like what was coming. “Plus, it’s basically a knight’s heroic duty to cradle their love in their arms.” 

He held Keith’s eyes as he stretched languidly, reaching his arms up to twine around his neck. “I know you know _all_ about that.”

Against his will Keith’s cheeks heated, an instinctive and hated reaction to anyone bringing _that_ up. “Remember how you said I can’t call you ridiculous anymore because I love that about you? _You_ can’t hold that against me anymore when _you’re_ the one who pretended not to remember and made it a big, stupid thing.”

Lance went quiet at that, his dramatic pose deflating until he’d gone limp. “You always turn my own logic against me and it’s totally unfair.”

Keith just shook his head. “Keep telling yourself that. Come on, down you go.” 

Once Lance was on his feet he seemed to remember his excitement over whatever he had in store. His pout vanished and he flashed a grin so brilliant that it made Keith’s knees weak. “Okay, now close your eyes,” he instructed, and Keith scoffed. 

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. Come on, babe. It’s a surprise, remember?” He clasped his hands under his chin and fluttered his eyelashes, and Keith had no choice but to comply when faced with that look. Damn it, he was so weak for this boy. 

Keith closed his eyes and, surrounded by the boring blackness behind his eyelids, focused on listening to Lance. He heard a few quick footsteps fading away followed by a bit of rummaging from inside the room. Muttering that he couldn’t quite make out. A sudden clatter rang through the corridor that nearly startled Keith into opening his eyes, and he laughed at Lance’s loud curse. 

Finally Lance’s footsteps grew nearer until Keith could sense him in his space. “Okay,” Lance said, and Keith didn’t have to see him to hear the smile in his voice as he claimed his hands. “It’s all ready. No peeking until I say!” 

Keith couldn’t help a grin, increasingly impatient to see what Lance had done now that it was so close. “I’m not peeking.”

“Are you sure? How many fingers am I holding up?”

“You’re holding my hands; you’re not holding up any fingers.”

“Aww, pretty and smart.” Lance pulled him in close before he could make a snappy remark, pressing Keith’s back flush to his chest. Lance’s breath puffed against his ear, an intimate whisper infused with a lilt that gave away his smirk. “Better stay nice and close so you don’t trip. The surprise is right in here.”

With gentle hands on his shoulders Lance guided him the few steps across the threshold. He expected Lance to turn the lights on, but the darkness behind his eyelids only shifted, illuminated just so instead of being brightened by the full lights of the room. They shuffled forward and stopped at what Keith assumed was the center of the room, Lance’s hands sliding down to his upper arms.  
“Okay,” Lance’s voice tickled his ear again, “open your eyes.”

And so Keith did.

The lights were indeed off, but instead of pitch blackness, the vast, spacious room was illuminated with every color imaginable. Keith’s eyes widened, letting out a soft gasp.

Glowing spheres rested against the ceiling and hovered in clumps around the room, giving off soft blooms of colored light. There were dozens of them, and yet each one was a different color, threaded through with pinpricks of shimmering white. They listed and twirled idly in the air, glimmering like tiny suns and casting rainbows smattered with starlight across every surface, making the metal floors and walls gleam like unspooled silk. 

Keith gazed around the room in awe, taking in the warm, gentle light and the air of intimacy that accompanied it. He’d come to love living in the Castle over their two-ish years in space, but no matter how much he considered it home, it wasn’t exactly _homey_. The white, pristine metal walls were almost sterile, and the entire Castle housed a chill that came from how few people occupied its enormous size. Sometimes it was like the ship carried with it the memories of all the Alteans who had ever called it home. Those were the hardest nights, when the Paladins felt like intruders walking in the shoes of ghosts. 

But _this?_

The orbs didn’t only give off light, they also emitted warmth; Keith could feel it seeping into his hair as a buttery yellow sphere drifted over his head. He took a few steps further into the room’s cozy warmth, like sitting in front of a fireplace after being out in the snow. Lance came up behind him and wound his arms around his waist, tucking his chin into the crook of his neck, and Keith decided he’d never felt more at home. 

“So, what do you think?” Lance muttered. 

“How did you do this?” He didn’t look at Lance as he spoke, unwilling to take his attention away from the sight just yet. “It’s incredible.” 

He felt Lance’s response against his neck, “Apparently Alteans used to use them as decoration and stuff, kinda like fairy lights. You have to make these special containers, and capture different kinds of starlight in them.” 

_That_ finally broke past his awe. Keith shifted enough to give Lance an incredulous look. “You made all these?” 

Lance’s grin widened. The planes of his face were cast in gentle tones of color, bringing out the subtle swirls in his eyes and the freckles on his cheeks. “Everyone helped. Coran and Allura both seemed super excited to help me out, actually? I told them I wanted to do something special and romantic for you and Coran instantly had this idea.” His smile turned a bit wry. “It was actually pretty fun, even though I had to listen to a million stories about how he used to woo all the pretty Altean girls in his glory days.” He gave a dramatic sigh and fluttered his lashes up at him. “I just love you that much.”

“I—...This is...Lance, I don’t know what to say. Thank you.” A pair of reddish orbs drifted lazily towards them, and even without their light casting over them both, Keith knew he had gone bright red. He turned in Lance’s arms so they were facing each other. “What possessed you to do all this for me?” 

Lance’s expression morphed ever so slowly, the corners of his smile twisting with an edge of mischief. “So you really don’t know.”

Keith’s brows rose in tandem with his suspicions. Lance sounding like _that_ was never a good thing. “Should I?”

Lance just chuckled, leaning down to nuzzle their noses together. “Well, today’s our anniversary, and I wanted to do something special for you.”

All the warmth and contentment in Keith’s body evaporated in an instant. His stomach dropped and he froze, his grip twitching on Lance’s arms. 

“Wait—what? Our _anniversary?_ ”

“Yep! Our one year anniversary, to be exact. You know, as in ‘one day a year ago I fell to my knees and proclaimed my all-encompassing, undying love for you and that day happens to be today.’”

“I know what an anniversary is!” His voice was higher and a bit more frantic than he’d wanted. He had to force himself to breathe. “How do you even know it’s our anniversary? It’s impossible to keep track of time out here!”

Lance grinned fully, now, the blues of his eyes brighter than the glimmering lights. “Remember Salturia?” 

The name made Keith’s nose wrinkle. It was a jungle-like planet, one where calling the inhabitants ‘people’ was using the word loosely. They’d basically been living plants with vaguely humanoid forms, their limbs and torsos made of gigantic leaves or twisted wooden boughs. Receiving grateful embraces from the Salturians during their usual post-planet-rescue celebration had been either pleasant or unbearable with zero in between. 

“Being hugged by a cactus isn’t something you forget.” 

Lance snickered. “Some of the Salturians were as prickly as you during parties.” 

Keith gave him a look, and Lance poked the corners of his cheeks until he couldn’t help a smile. “Right, well, anyway—that was the planet we visited right before we became a couple. And as thanks for saving their butts from the Galra they gave Allura that crazy-ass plant that she turned out to be allergic to, but it was super rare on their planet so she couldn’t turn it down and gave it to Coran after we left? You know, the Galra-Dick Plant?” 

Keith groaned. “Why do you have to call it that?” 

“Uh, first of all because it’s true. When it blooms its fruit are big and purple and actually dick-shaped. You saw it too and you cannot deny it.” 

“I can and I will deny it.” 

“Second, its actual name has more letters in it than the English and Altean languages combined and I don’t have the patience to try to figure out how to say it. So, fuck it, it’s the Galra-Dick Plant.” 

“Just don’t _actually_ fuck the Galra-Dick Plant,” Keith said dryly, rolling his eyes. 

Lance waggled his eyebrows. “No worries there, babe. Yours is the only dick I want, Galra or otherwise. Now stop distracting me by making me think about your dick, I’m trying to be sweet here!” 

“You’re the one who calls it that. And you brought it up!” 

“Anyway!” Lance gave a gesture like he was physically brushing the subject away, and Keith was all too happy to let him. “I asked Coran to give me updates on how the crazy plant’s doing. It blooms on the same day every year, and a while back he gave me some warning that it was gonna happen soon, so I’ve been planning this. It’s set to bloom today, which means...” 

Lance trailed off, allowing Keith to come to the conclusion on his own. And, slowly, with a swooping stomach and mounting horror, Keith did. It made sense—it was complicated and convoluted, but it was also so very _Lance_ to figure out _some_ way to keep track of something like that. 

“Fuck,” he breathed, soft but fierce. “Today’s our anniversary.” 

Lance chuckled, equally soft but fond. He brushed featherlight fingertips across Keith’s brow, sweeping a stray lock of hair out of his face. The gesture only added an entirely new facet to his churning stomach. 

“Yeesh, babe, when you say it like that it sounds like a death sentence or something.” Keith groaned long and loud, bending to bury his face in Lance’s neck. He felt little hiccups of laughter puff against the top of his hair. 

“ _Shit_ , Lance, I didn’t even realize—I’m so sorry, I know that stuff means a lot to you.” His brain caught up to his mouth half a second too late, and he stiffened, pulling away with wide eyes. “ _Fuck_ , no, that’s not—it means a lot to me, too, I didn’t—I meant—” 

“Whoa, Keith, calm down.” Long, gentle fingers cupped his face and effectively cut off his relationship-challenged rambling. Lance’s thumbs swept back and forth across his cheekbones just below his eyes, and even though his insides felt like they’d just been catapulted through a wormhole from the force of his guilt, Keith subconsciously relaxed. 

“You okay there? You looked sicker than Hunk in the Garrison’s flight simulator.” There was a shimmer of mirth lingering in Lance’s eyes as he leaned in to rest their foreheads together, but it was mostly obscured by such a staggering level of adoration that, for the first time in longer than he’d realized, Keith felt disgustingly unworthy of. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, the words ghosting across Lance’s lips. “I never would’ve thought of it if you hadn’t done all this. I’m the worst boyfriend.” 

A tiny furrow appeared in Lance’s brow. “Hey now, none of that.” He kissed the tip of his nose, and despite his internal turmoil, the tiny gesture still made his heartbeat trip. “I didn’t do this to make you feel bad. Like you said, it’s hard to keep track of time out here, and I know you’re not into cheesy, chick-flick-type stuff like big anniversary hoopla and all that. Plus, ya’ know, we’re kinda fighting an intergalactic war against a race of big purple space cats, so, even if you had known about it, I wouldn’t have expected anything.” 

Keith felt the corners of his mouth trying to twitch into a smile, but he fought through it and leveled Lance with an unimpressed expression. “I’m not half-purple space cat.” 

“Shh, it’s too late to try to hide your space cat side from me, Keith. I love that part of you as much as any other, so hush and accept your furry heritage.” 

Keith snorted, but his guilt killed his amusement in cold blood after barely more than a weak chuckle. “I’m still sorry.” 

“Well, don’t be. In fact, I’m making a new rule that there are to be no bad feelings of any kind on our anniversary. Any sad boyfriend faces can and will be kissed until they’re cured.” 

Before Keith could make the point that that just gave him more incentive to look sad, Lance launched a relentless assault of peppered kisses all across his face. He burst out laughing and squirmed half-heartedly, but Lance’s hands dropped to his arms and held him in place, and he resigned himself to closing his eyes and weathering the barrage. 

By the time Lance relented every square inch of skin from his hairline to the bottom of his chin had received at least one peck. His face tingled from so much contact, and a similar feeling buzzed in his veins as he met Lance’s blinding grin through his lingering laughter. 

“That’s better.” Lance slackened his hold enough for Keith to maneuver his hands up, lightly smacking his own cheeks to rid them of tingles. 

“Consider me scared straight,” Keith griped. 

“Ah—snarky boyfriend faces also get kisses,” Lance warned, making to move in again, and Keith was quick to push a hand against his comically puckered lips. 

“Okay, I give!” Keith laughed. “I didn’t expect you’d be so keen to smother me on our anniversary.” 

Lance—the adorable little shit—winked and pressed a kiss to his palm. “No breaking the new rule, Keith. Plus I didn’t want you to be sad when I gave you your gift.” 

Keith spluttered. “ _Gift?_ How is _this_ —” he gestured wildly to the beautiful lights drifting around them, “—not enough of a gift?” 

When had Lance had time to _get_ him something? The thought of him hunting and scouring for some kind of present who knew how long ago brought back Keith’s sickening guilt with renewed intensity. Fuck, Lance was too damn good for him.

“Of course I got you something,” Lance said easily, waving a hand like it was no big deal. “You should expect me to be extra like that by now. And before you get all broody again, I told you you have no reason to feel bad.” 

“But—I don’t have anything for you.” 

Everything about Lance’s expression quirked in the most dangerous way: one corner of his lips curled just enough to make it slant lopsided across his face, boyish and endearing; his eyes upturned with the force of his smile lines crinkling them; even the shade of his irises shifted, brightening as he gazed at Keith like he was something priceless. It was the look he wore before delivering his most corny, most agonizingly sweet sentiments, and oftentimes the look he wore before Keith’s heart stopped functioning. 

“I don’t need any gifts. I’d turn down the clearest, bluest ocean in the universe just to be with you.”

“ _Oh my god_.” Keith wasn’t one to whine, and if asked he would vehemently deny that the sound he made was exactly that. “Your sap is going to kill me one day.”

“Ohhh no, not before you get your gift, it isn’t! I won’t allow it.”

Keith sighed, pushing down his guilt to bring forth a soft smile. “Alright. You really didn’t have to do all of this for me, you know.” 

“I know, but I wanted to. Now are you ready for your present?” Keith nodded, and Lance’s eyes gleamed in excitement. “Then close your eyes.”

Keith raised a brow, but did as asked without complaint. He expected Lance to move away to fetch whatever present he’d managed to find out in the depths of space, but instead he shuffled half a step closer and leaned down until their foreheads touched. It wasn’t until Lance’s warm breath broke against his lips that Keith realized what exactly his “gift” was. Thrills of anticipation crackled down his spine intense as lightning. His hands automatically went to Lance’s shoulders and pulled him down to meet him, unable to wait another second. 

No matter how many times they kissed, Keith would never tire of it. A nip at his bottom lip was all it took for him to open reflexively, and he pressed closer, burying his fingers into the curls at the base of Lance’s skull to hold him there, _right there_ —right where he wanted until his withdrawal was sated. Lance was gentle but relentless—he explored Keith’s mouth and tasted every inch, unraveling him with languid strokes of his tongue as if they had nothing but time. The kiss burned slow but so _so_ hot, molten and all-consuming like lava dripping down his spine. It was everything Keith had been craving the past two days, and he groaned low in his throat. 

By the time Lance pulled away they were both red-faced and panting. Their breaths mingled in the minuscule space between their lips, labored puffs fanning hot against flushed cheeks. Lance licked his kiss-reddened lips. 

“So? Did you like your present?” 

“Yeah,” Keith breathed, a touch of effort in the word that made Lance grin. 

“I’m glad, because that—brace yourself—was our one-thousandth kiss.” 

It took Keith’s sluggish thoughts a few moments to process that, and even when he did, he didn’t quite know what to make of it. He gave Lance an odd look. “Wait—are you saying that the reason you avoided kissing me was because you wanted to...what? Save number one-thousand for today?”

“Um, yeah!” Lance looked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “C’mon, even you have to admit, one-thousand is a big deal! Just think about how many kisses that is! Why not save a momentous kiss for a momentous occasion, right? It just makes today even more special.” 

“I can’t believe this.” Laugher bubbled out of him despite his incredulity, and he shook his head. “No, actually I can. Leave it to you to act so weird and worry me for something like that.” 

“It was only two days! To my credit, I tried to space the last few kisses out over the last couple weeks, but what can I say? I’m a weak man, Keith. I dunno if you’re aware of this, but you’re kinda irresistible.”

“And you’re sweet,” Keith countered, pressing another peck to his lips. “But there’s one thing I still don’t get.” 

“One-thousand-one! And what’s that?”

“ _Why_ in the hell have you been counting all the times we’ve kissed?” 

Despite the obviousness of it, for some reason Lance seemed surprised at the question. “Oh. Um, well...” He shrugged a shoulder. His eyes lowered for a moment before returning to Keith’s face, and the adoration in those blue depths took his breath away. 

“It’s just...being Paladins, we never know what’s going to happen, or if we’re both going to come back at the end of the day. We all know the risks, but that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. I guess...counting is one of the ways I deal with it.”

Lance’s gentle hands moved to cup his jaw, adding to Keith’s already stuttering heartbeat. “I want to stop the Galra and help all the people they’ve conquered, but it’s more than that. The time we have together is what drives me. I have a thousand moments of love with you to keep me strong. The Paladins fight for the lives of so many people, but I fight for us, too. I fight to be able to have one more moment like that with you, to get that count to a thousand more. _That’s_ what keeps me going.” 

Lance’s grin curled even wider, lighting up his countenance brighter than Diaelis’s three suns. No matter how many times Keith was gifted with the sight, he would never stop being just as overwhelmed by it. In the intimate lighting of the room Lance practically glowed, and Keith was powerless against the magnetic, magical, gravitational pull that drew him back into another long, slow kiss. Lance’s mouth opened instantly, and he made a rough sound in the back of his throat between slow drags of their tongues. Keith spoke haltingly during gasps for breath, his voice gravelly. 

“I have a present for you, too.” Lance’s fingers curled deeper into his hair. He made a lilting sound, a question without needing to separate. Keith smirked against his lips. 

“By the end of the night, I’ll make you lose track.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Feel free to come chat with me on tumblr [@casiosiris294!](http://casiosiris294.tumblr.com/)


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